Monday, August 15, 2011

Tigers Acquire Delmon Young from Twins

In a surprise move, the Tigers have acquired outfielder Delmon Young from the division rival Twins for minor league pitcher Cole Nelson and a player to be named later. The right-handed hitting Young had been a highly touted prospect for years before seemingly breaking out last year batting .298/.333/.493. This year, he has disappointed with a paltry .662 OPS, but has an OPS of .782 since the beginning of June.

The biggest knock offensively against Young is lack of patience as he has walked in just 4% of his career plate appearances. He is also a poor defender as evidenced by his career -46 Total Zone and -43 Ultimate Zone Rating. If you think Raburn is a poor fielder, you may find out what a poor fielder really looks like now.

The 25-year-old Young is going to replace Magglio Ordonez in the line-up and that will be an upgrade. As bad as Young has been this season, his OPS is 87 points higher than Magglio Ordonez's .575 mark. Ordonez can't field anymore either, so they won't lose anything there. And it might surprise you that Young is five months younger than Brennan Boesch. So, while I'm not expecting much, it's not out of the question that Young could still live up to some of his promise.

Assuming the player to be named is not a significant prospect, I think it's a good move. At any rate, we'll see him soon. He's batting third tonight versus his old teammates.